Lockdown at the Big House! Shutouts are becoming a signature of this Michigan team. Some of the best defense I’ve seen in, oh, 5 decades of watching college football.
That 38-0 thrashing of Northwestern turned a lot of heads. Kirk Herbstreit pronounced it the most impressive performance of the weekend, and it moved Michigan up to #12 in the AP poll, and #14 in the Coaches poll. These rankings are still infected by subjective bias based on pre-season expectations, in turn fueled by memories of last year. Jeff Sagarin’s computer ranking for USA Today, based strictly on who’s beaten whom this year and who the opponents have beaten, etc., has Michigan at #3, Ohio State at #14, and Michigan State at #39. I wouldn’t swear by those exact rankings, but I would say that judging by on-field performance to date, Michigan has looked like the best team in the B1G this year.
The subjective rankings will catch up, though. The AP and Coaches polls still have Michigan State ranked ahead of Michigan, 7th in the AP, 4th in the Coaches poll. Las Vegas has Michigan favored by 4. If they play with the focus and intensity they showed against Northwestern, they’ll beat Sparty who turned in another in a long line of lackluster performances against sub-par opponents with a 31-24 win over Rutgers. The Spartans will be up for the game against Michigan, which is and always has been their biggest rivalry game. But their defense is not what it was last year. It will be a hard-fought contest, as always, but I’m expecting a Michigan win. And order will be restored.
The most impressive things about this team are (i) the obvious focus on both offense and defense, (ii) the level of preparedness and (iii) the “in the moment” approach.
Will we beat MSU? Who knows - that’s why they play the games. But I certainly feel like they have a good opportunity to make a real statement.
It should be a good one. MSU will pay us hard. Dantonio saves his best for Michigan. I hope we play like we did the last 5 weeks. If so, we have a decent chance of winning.
We are headed in the right direction Alexandre. I hate losing to State, but that was a total giveaway at the end. Watch us come out strong in our next game. That’s when you’ll really notice the difference in coaching.
10 seconds away from exorcising the demons of the RichRod-Hoke years. And the demons strike back.
Still, overall a strong performance against a very good football team. MSU didn’t beat us. We beat ourselves on an unforced error, the only turnover in a close, hard-fought game… Clean that up, and we’re formidable. I look for a strong finish to the season and a good bowl placement. And it only gets better from here.
I have no doubt that we are headed in the right direction. Michigan had the lead all game long. The loss was a result of a miracle play in the closing seconds of the game (for those of you old enough to remember, this was a loss similar to the 1994, 64 yard hail Mary loss to Colorado, also in Michigan stadium).
I agree that this team is going to rebound and win at least 3 of the next 5 games, with only the games at PSU and against OSU as possible losses. I would not be surprised if we ended the season 10-2, but even if we finish 8-4, the way the team is playing, I have confidence in our future.